This patent application claims priority based on the Japanese patent applications, H10-172177 filed on Jun. 4, 1998 and H10-186855 filed on Jun. 17, 1998 and the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a game machine having a function to inform a player of a prize mode determined by a random number lottery.
2. Related Art
There has conventionally been, for example, a slot machine as a game machine of this kind. In a general slot machine, as shown in FIG. 1A, three reels 3, 4 and 5 are installed in parallel on the rear side of a front panel 2. Various patterns are illustrated on the outer circumferences of the individual reels 3 to 5, and the patterns are illuminated by built-in light sources (back lights), not shown, installed at the individual reels and are observed via individual windows 6, 7 and 8 formed at the front panel 2. Five prize lines are described in the windows, and the slot machine game is carried out depending upon whether or not a combination of predetermined patterns is set on any of the prize lines.
The game is started when a player puts a coin into a slit and when the coin is put into the slot, as shown in FIG. 1A, all of the back lights are lighted. When a coin of the player has not been put thereinto by the player for a predetermined time period after finishing the game, or the like, all of the back lights are extinguished, as shown in FIG. 1B. The individual reels 3 to 5 are rotated in response to the operation of a start lever by the player, and the individual windows 6 to 8 are displayed with the patterns which move to rotate in the directions of columns thereof. When the individual reels 3 to 5 reach a constant speed, the operation of the individual stop buttons installed in correspondence with the individual reels 3 to 5 becomes effective.
The player operates the individual stop buttons while observing the moving patterns and stops the rotation of the individual reels 3 to 5 thereby to stop and display desired patterns on any of the prize lines. The individual reels 3 to 5 stop rotating in response to the operational timings of the individual stop buttons. When a predetermined combination of patterns is displayed on any of the prize lines at the time of stopping them, a prize in response the combination of patterns is obtained.
There are a big hit prize, a medium hit prize, a small hit prize and so on in prize modes, and the big hit prize or the medium hit prize is caused when three of patterns xe2x80x9c7xe2x80x9d or patterns of a predetermined character are set on the prize line. A special game of big bonus game (BB game) in the case of the big hit prize or regular bonus game (RB game) in the case of the medium hit prize is carried out, and a large amount of coins can be acquired. Further, the small hit prize is caused when a predetermined number of patterns of xe2x80x9ccherryxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cbellxe2x80x9d are aligned on the prize line, and several coins can be acquired in the small hit prize. FIG. 1C shows a case in which patterns xe2x80x9cbellxe2x80x9d are aligned on a central prize line, and in this case, the back lights are flashed.
Such prize modes are determined by a lottery of random numbers which is carried out immediately after operating the start lever and has already been determined before the individual reels are operated to stop by the player. The lottery of random numbers is executed by prize mode determining means constituted inside of the game machine. When the big hit prize is determined by the lottery of random numbers, a display such as a notification lamp installed at the front panel of the machine is lighted, and the player is informed of the fact that the big hit prize is caused by the inner lottery of the machine. After this, the rotation of the individual reels is controlled to stop in response to the operation of stopping the buttons by the player, and the prize can be actually experienced by the player when a combination of patterns of the prize determined by the lottery of random numbers is stopped and displayed on the prize line.
In the aforementioned game machine of the prior art, however,when a big hit prize is caused by the inner lottery, the notification lamp immediately lighted, and the player is informed of a result of the inner lottery. According to the conventional game machine, therefore, the player is mechanically informed of the result of the inner lottery, as it is, for causing the big hit prize and cannot enjoy the pleasure of searching the result of the inner lottery as in, for example, searching for the xe2x80x9creach spotxe2x80x9d. Here, the xe2x80x9creach spotxe2x80x9d means a predetermined combination of patterns which is displayed at the timing of stopping the rotation of the individual reels in the circumstance the big hit prize is caused by the inner lottery.
Furthermore, what is informed is only the case in which the big hit prize is caused by the inner lottery, and the information to be conveyed to the player is limited. Therefore, the result of the inner lottery which has been determined by the lottery of random numbers inside of the machine is not known until the patterns are actually stopped and displayed at the individual windows with regard to the prize modes other than big hit prize. Accordingly, the player cannot previously grasp the result of the inner lottery, and therefore, what patterns are to be aligned on the prize line cannot be known to the player at all when the rotation of the reels is operated to stop initially.
According to the invention, as conceived to address those problems, there is provided a game machine which comprises: prize mode determining means for determining a prize mode of a game by a random number lottery; a variable display device for displaying various patterns variably in a plurality of columns and for displaying a combination of the patterns stationarily in said individual columns in accordance with the prize mode which is determined by said prize mode determining means; variable display starting means for starting the variable display of said variable display device; information means for informing a player, at a predetermined probability, of an information corresponding to the prize mode determined by said prize mode determining means; and notification means for notifying to the player the information in a specific informing mode on a condition in which the information is a predetermined one corresponding to a specific prize mode determined by the prize mode determining means.
According to this construction, the prize mode determined by the inner lottery is informed to the player at a predetermined probability by the information means. This allows the player to predict the prize mode to a certain extent.
Furthermore, when a specified prize mode is informed as the predetermined one, the result of the inner lottery of causing the specific prize mode is notified to the player by the notification means. In respect of the specific prize mode, when it is informed through the information other than the predetermined one, the result of the inner lottery is not notified by the notification means. Therefore, the player can be informed of the result of the inner lottery causing the specific prize mode through the information informed by the information means even when the result of the inner lottery of causing the specific prize mode is not notified by the notification means. Therefore, the pleasure for searching the occurrence of the specific prize mode is felt in the game from the information of the information means.
Furthermore, according to another aspect of the present invention, the game machine further comprises variable display stopping means for stopping said variable display for the individual columns. And in this game machine, the information means informs the player, at a predetermined probability, of an information corresponding to the prize mode determined by said prize mode determining means, in a series of flow of the game from the start of said variable display by said variable display starting means to the end of one game stopped by stopping said variable display by said variable display stopping means, and the notification means notifies to the player the information by the specific informing mode on a condition in which the information by the information means is one corresponding to the specific prize mode determined by the prize mode determining means and the predetermined information informed to the player at a probability of 100%.
According to this construction, the prize mode determined by the inner lottery is informed to the player at a predetermined probability by the information corresponding to the prize mode through a series of flow of the game. This allows the player to predict the prize mode to a certain extent with the information mode according to the progress of the game.
Furthermore, when the specific prize mode is informed at the probability of 100%, the result of the inner lottery of causing the specific prize mode is notified to the player by the notification means. When the specific prize mode is informed at a probability smaller than 100%, that is, in case even when the specified prize mode is caused by the inner lottery, the specific prize mode may not necessarily be informed, the result of the inner lottery is not notified by the notification means. Therefore, the player can be informed of the result of the inner lottery causing the specific prize mode through the information informed through a series of flow of the game by the information means even when the result of the inner lottery of causing the specific prize mode is not notified by the notification means. Therefore, also in this case, the pleasure for searching the occurrence of the specific prize mode is felt in the game from the information of the information means.